Compelling New Evidence That Exercise Won’t Help You Lose Weight

Long Story Short

A new international study provides more compelling evidence that exercise isn’t key to controlling weight.

Long Story

The United States is the midst an obesity epidemic. That much is clear. What hasn’t been so clear in recent years is what’s causing it: for years, governments in Western countries such as the US, Australia and the United Kingdom have been focusing on exercise — or the lack thereof — among young adults and teenagers.

But more recent evidence has suggested that it’s not so much about how much we exercise, but how much we eat, that has the major effect on our weight. In particular, science seems to be swiftly moving its focus away from fat and towards sugar as the major culprit when it comes to rising rates of obesity.

Now, there’s another blow for those who claim exercise as the panacea for all our weighty woes. A new international study led by Loyola University Chicago has presented new evidence that neither exercise nor sedentary time is key in controlling weight.

The Loyola study is just one part of what’s known as the Modeling the Epidemiologic Transition Study (METS). For METS, researchers followed adults aged 25 to 40 living in five countries: the United States, Ghana, South Africa, Jamaica and Seychelles.

Close to 2,000 participants, both male and female, aged 25 to 40 wore accelerometers on their waists for a week, while researchers also measured weight, height and body fat. The participants were then asked to return one year and two years later.

Perhaps the most striking result of the study was that total weight gain in every country was greater among participants who met the U.S. Surgeon General’s physical activity guidelines. For example, American men who met the guidelines gained a half pound per year, while American men who did not meet the guideline lost 0.6 pounds.

There was no significant relationship between sedentary time on the first check-up and subsequent weight gain or weight loss. The only stats that lined up with weight gain were weight at the initial visit, age and gender.

“Our study results indicate that physical activity may not protect you from gaining weight,” said lead author Lara R. Dugas, PhD, MPH, in a news release — perhaps a little too frankly.

It’s yet another result to suggest that simply upping your exercise won’t necessarily lead to weight loss. Physical activity no doubt has proven benefits, ranging from reducing risk of certain diseases to improving mental health and mood. But as the news release points out, while physical activity burns calories it also increases appetite, and people may compensate by eating more or being less active for the rest of the day.

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What about other age groups?

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Today in the United States, two-thirds of adults and nearly one-third of children struggle with being overweight and obese.